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Michael Rosenbaum
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Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying Lex Luthor on Smallville and also for portraying the Flash in the DC animated universe. Rosenbaum has also done film and other voiceover work.
nbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. He is Jewish and was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana. Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts.
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Encyclopedia
Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying Lex Luthor on Smallville and also for portraying the Flash in the DC animated universe. Rosenbaum has also done film and other voiceover work.
Biography
Early life
Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. He is Jewish and was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana. Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.
Career
Once in New York, an MTV Networks intern named Vincent Letizia spotted his 8 x 10 black and white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl". The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Rosenbaum with the working title of "The Michael Rosenbaum Project." The project later became known as "The Temp" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality television setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV Executives. It was the mid 1990s before the mega boom of Reality TV and though the show was good, it was possibly before its time. This turned out to be a good thing for Rosenbaum who shortly thereafter left for Los Angeles where his talents could be showcased to a wider audience.
In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville. Continuing in the comic book genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. The Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited. In the third season Justice League episode "Great Brain Robbery", Michael Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when his character was trapped in Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor's body. In February 2007, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after season seven of the show, and he has not appeared so far in Smallville season eight.
Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, including Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; coincidentally, Spacey portrayed Lex Luthor in the film Superman Returns.
Personal life
Rosenbaum is an ardent New York Rangers fan and often plays in charity hockey games. His favorite band is Guns N' Roses. His favorite animal is a wolf. In an episode of MTV Cribs, Rosenbaum shows his love of singing, karaoke, exercising and Captain Crunch. He is left-handed. Rosenbaum often likes to play miniature golf. It has been suggested that he has had a steady girlfriend for over two years.
Filmography
Television series
Films
Animation
- Batman Beyond (1999-2001) (various characters)
- Justice League (2001-2004) (as The Flash and Deadshot)
- Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006) (as The Flash, Deadshot, Ghoul, Doctor Polaris, and Lex Luthor in one episode of the third season of Justice League Unlimited.)
- In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Great Brain Robbery," the Flash trades bodies with Lex Luthor (who was portrayed by Clancy Brown) for a brief period of time. The voice actors continued to portray their character's normal bodies, so The Flash's body still sounded like the Flash, even while it was inhabited by Luthor's mind. Thus, Michael Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor for most of the episode, the same role he had on Smallville for seasons 1-7. In addition, because he also portrayed Dr. Polaris, there are numerous scenes in which Rosenbaum is speaking dialogue as Dr. Polaris to the body of Lex Luthor (the role he plays on Smallville) inhabited by the mind of the Flash (another role he plays on Justice League Unlimited).
- The Zeta Project (2001-2002) (as Agent West)
- Static Shock (2000-2004) (Trapper (Series 1, 2 & 4), various voices, and guest appearance as The Flash in the third season two-part episode "A League of Their Own")
- Jackie Chan Adventures (2000-2005) as Drago
- Teen Titans (2005) as Kid Flash
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009) as Deadman
Video games
Cameos In Animation/Comic
- Justice League episode Tabula Rasa: Amazo while looking for Lex Luthor runs into Michael Rosenbaum.
- Justice League Unlimited #38: In page 10, Giganta and Flash are having a discussion while sitting on a billboard. It reads: INJURED? Call Rosenbaum and Associates (the person in the picture bears a strong resemblance to Michael Rosenbaum).
External links
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